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 Swim
Comments: Something that stuck with me since training for HIM New Orleans was the benefits of swimming more. Still I was surprised to see how quickly I got out of the water compared to my past performances. I guess things are starting to click. What would you do differently?: I need to learn how to draft better. Wanting to be away from people in the swim is taking away one of the few opportunities I get to take advantage of other people's performance.  Transition 1
Comments: I had a good spot in transition right next to the bike exit. I felt that this minimized one of the disadvantages of putting on bike shoes in transition (that is running through transition in shoes). I do need to learn how to flying mount though, as this would give me a few free seconds on my competition. With that said, I did have the fastest T1 of my age group, but I'm more inclined to say that was because of my awesome spot in transition than my prowess of putting stuff on fast. What would you do differently?: Learn how to flying mount.  Bike
Comments: Very windy heading out. I knew that meant that I would have an awesome tailwind on the way back, but I had to get there first. First half I was spinning until about mile 6 where we finally turned away from the wind. Near the turnaround is a hill that I remembered took the life out of my legs last year. Apparently with more time in the saddle, I've gotten a little better at hills, so I get through it just fine. Ride the tailwind back to pull my average back closer to 21MPH. Frankly, I feel like I could have done better than that, but I've become a believer in the saying "there's no such thing as a good bike followed by a bad run". This run in particular, I wanted to finish strong. What would you do differently?: Learn how to push more when facing a tailwind. Need to learn how to just tuck and keep grinding a big gear. Transition 2
Comments: I feel like I have T2 dialed in about as good as I can get it. The only flaw in my T2 this time around was going out the bike out for some reason, which thanks to my position only cost me a couple of seconds. What would you do differently?: Make sure I know where bike AND run out is.  Run
Comments: I kept telling myself that between my surprisingly good swim, decent bike, and decent transitions, if I don't give up on the run, I'll have a successful day. First mile was easy, as it's pretty much on the flattest road that I'll run on all year. Mile two has you entering the woods however, but I had ran this race last year, so I knew what I was getting into this time. There's a hill in the trail that I've seen many, many people start walking on. It does feel like it goes on forever. While I was on the trail, all I could do was mentally prepare myself for the part. The hill itself isn't that bad, but for that part of the race with the heat it can be demoralizing. When I reach the hill, I just pick up my cadence and stairstep my way up it. Shortly after, I make it out the woods to finish my last mile on the nice, paved road to the finish. What would you do differently?: I feel that I'm capable of approx 30 sec/mile faster on the run, but it wouldn't have moved me up a slot. Furthermore, this run was about facing demons. This run almost made me quit this year, and I needed to show that I am here to stay. Post race
Warm down: Did my usual suck wind and drink a nasty perform as I headed to the overhead sprinklers they had setup (great idea, by the way). I looked at the times that were up and eventually saw that I was in third place in my age group. I couldn't believe that the race that almost made me quit was going to be my first triathlon to podium in. I then got some chicken fajitas that were being served while I waited for the awards. What limited your ability to perform faster: A little bit of mental, and I need to start training to run HARD off the bike. I do bricks after my long bikes, but they're usually at more of a slower pace. If I eventually want to start winning my AG, I need to be willing to go hard the whole race. Event comments: Beating my time last year by 25 minutes and placing for the first time in my triathlon career. Not sure if I'll have a day that successful for a while. Last updated: 2011-06-14 12:00 AM
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United States
Start 2 Finish Event Management
78F / 26C
Sunny
Overall Rank = /
Age Group = 25-29
Age Group Rank = 3/8
Before I start the meat of this report, I want to describe my experience of this race last year (since I haven't completed a report on any of my races like a good BT'er should). This race last year was my 3rd tri ever, and I wanted to keep progressing. I had done Heatwave two weeks before, so I wanted to go faster on every event. I would succeed on this for the swim and the bike, but ended up ultimately giving into the heat of the day and bonking on the run. I ended up finishing the run at a near 12 min/mile pace finishing at 2:06, and was so crushed from my performance mentally that I nearly gave up the sport. A year later from then, I came back much stronger than last year, and was ready to get revenge on that run.
Now, back to the race...
I got up in the morning about 4:30 to make sure I had everything loaded up to head to Sardis. I really don't eat much in the morning of races or really long workouts. Most of my nutrition before and during racing is fluid. That's something I'll probably need to change for IM racing, but I'm a while away from that. For now, Nuun and a gel ~15 min before the race will do.
I planned on running approx. a mile and a half, biking about 3 miles, and then swimming to the first turn marker and back, but I got to the race site a little later than I wanted, so I had to skip the bike part of my warmup.